From cellar, brewed in 2010, bottled in 2011. L: Pours hazy brown with very little carbonation and a thin tan film on top. Looks like a glass of unfiltered prune juice.
S: Tart, winey nose with ripe to over ripe fruit, citrus, and vanilla. Not much rum.
T: This is a very tart yeast driven beer featuring more fruit and wine notes with a faint malt presence with brown sugar in the background. Has some sherry to port qualities with less alcohol. The oak and rum become especially apparent in the finish. Rum and wild flavors linger.
F: Petillant with an almost grainy, unfiltered texture, medium body.
O: Tart, refreshing beer with a complex palate and an oaky, rummy finish.

Tastes of sweet brown sugar, Madeira, port wine with a sour beginning. Initial sip of this beer is sweet as pie, literally. It has the flavor of a pecan pie without the pecans...meaning straight rum. It has a sour middle due to the lacto and a dry finish with lingering flavor.

Mouthfeel is slick on the tongue and has zero carbonation. Not sure if this is the achieved goal for this beer but it does not fit the characteristic of the Biere de garde style.

Overall...this beer was aged over 3 years, one
Of those years was in rum barrels. It's safe to say that aging beer in rum barrels is a bad idea. I would never attempt to do this not would I condone this in future brewing endeavors. The sour profile ends up losing it's diligence and becoming a sub profile of the beer.

I've heard that BFM does awesome things so don't let this be an end to all ends. If you enjoy sour persuebeers try some other offerings.

No fizz at all when the cap is popped off. Uh-oh. Beer is dark amber in colour, brownish. No head whatsoever.

Nose contains oak, rum, balsamic vinegar, some dark fruit.

Taste is like the nose. Oak is very strong, and the rum is strong but not overpowering. Moderately sour, with a vinegary and vinous flavour. Alcohol is well hidden. Some fruit flavours. The rum adds sweetness, and works fairly well. A bit of a rum aftertaste.

Full bodied, no carbonation. Quite mouth-drying, and somewhat heavy.

Overall, pretty good. Much better than the reviews make it out to be, in my view.

S: at first, it smells vaguely like an oud bruin or, better, an extra malty gueuze - certainly vinous (red) - little bit of a diaper scent - somehow, the alcohol doesn't poke through much at all

T: not good - no malt, just dull, vaguely estery flavors - near complete absence of depth or complexity - comes off as malt-wine blend that's just starting to turn awful - bordering on vinegar - ironically, not bad enough to spit out, but no enjoyment

M: like the taste, noticeably watery, primarily up front - a mellow honey-like (yet watery) roll in the finish - dry, but with a silky film coating the mouth - late alcohol warmth

O: maybe this could have been saved had they corked it? a lil méthode champenoise in this shit - I'll take the regular Bon-Chien any day over this

Bottle picked up at Vintage Estate in Boardman, Ohio. After a poor experience with the Spirit Barrel version, I'm really hoping this is a serious step up. Served in a BFM goblet. Nose has a distinct rum presence. Flavor is moderately acidic with some cherry and white rum. Alcohol. Medium body.

375 ml bottle, 2010 vintage. Served in a Unibroue tulip, the beer pours a cloudy brown color with pretty much no head at all. Not much lacing, either. The brew smells like sweet and tart dark fruit, oak, vinegar and some rum. Taste is similar to the aroma, but there's the addition of some apple. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's a bit slick with very low carbonation. I think this is an OK brew, but it's nowhere near worth the price ($18.99 a bottle). Still, it was nice to try it.

Poured into a snifter. I love spelling rum as "rhum." Brewed in 2010, bottled in 2011. Big thanks to SteveFinny for this. This will be my third of the series (vin jaune, merlot).

2.5 A: Pours a completely still murky plum color. No evidence of carbonation.

4.5 S: Smelling this after having two grape barrel versions is not as different as I imagined it would be. The major aromas in this beer come from the base beer itself and not the barrel treatments. Big tart cherry fruitiness. I'll say it again because it's that apparent. Huge tart cherry fruitiness. Somehow this has a good bit more cherry than the other variants. Sherry next followed by apple, melon, plum, and lemon meringue. Big tangy lactic acid. The rum, or rhum, is complementary and diverts the aroma enough from the other variants to justify the different treatments. Oh, and it works really well. Vanilla and oak to round things out.

4.5 T: I like this one just as much as the merlot barrel, which is saying something. The rum works extremely well in this adding a sweetness that is entirely complementary to the otherwise dry fruitiness and funk. Again, there's an insane amount of cherry which is easily on pace with what you'd find in a kriek. Some sherry with a subtle cardboard oxidation. This is probably the sour-est of what I've had so far offering a good pucker to it. Apple is probably the next strongest fruit, with plum, melon, lemon, and grape. Rotting wood and musty basement type funk. Vanilla and oak.

3.0 M: Medium body. Flat, but it works well enough.

4.0 D: As evidenced by the merlot version, carbonation improves this beer and I think this would be better with some. Still, it's exceptionally complex and quite tasty as well. This is the least tannic-y of the three I've had and probably the best balanced as well.

The beer pours a light yellow-orange color with a white head. The aroma is incredibly complex. I get a ton of lemons and tart cherries, as well as some yeast, oak, tobacco and brett. The flavor is also complex but for different reasons. I get a lot of rum and oak notes, as well as some vanilla and toffee malt. There is also a nice tart cherry quality as well as some alcohol burn. Medium mouthfeel and low carbonation. Very nice.

Bottle purchased from West Lakeview Liquors. Served in a Bell's tulip.

A - A hard pour rouses...nothing. Seems even more still than the other BFM Grand Crus. Orange-brown body that's transparent until the last pour.

S - The expected aromas of light vinegar, oak, and sweet malts is largely overwhelmed by oak and grain alcohol. If you concentrate hard there's some spiced rum presence that's been masked. As it warms up there's a light solvent/acetone flavor as well.

T - Taste is significantly better here, with less of the harsh alcohol and more overt spiced rum and sugar cane/candi sugar flavors. Less oak, but only mild acetic tartness. Faint oxidation is also present.

I believe this is the beer I am reviewing. I believe it is the 2010 edition of this beer. I think this is the most expensive bottle i have purchased per ounce. Was gonna save it but it is my bday and i caved in.

It pours with little head, looks flat. It is a brownish grape juice color. Besides no head, not too bad.

The smell is great. There is grapes, tangy red fruits, lemon, sugar, oak, caramel, funk, and sourness. Funky berry scent seems to be the most noticeable and it is great.

The mouthfeel is flat but it doesn't matter, this beer is succulent and delicious. Much of the scents appear in the flavor, there is a bit more apple and a toned down level of sourness. The barrel aging becomes more apparent and there is a heightened level of sweetness. Rum comes thorugh a lot more in the flavor. Very vinous and winey, almost unsightly so. The flavor of this beer is just a beautiful symphony.

I have had quite a few uncarbonated (purposely) brews and this one is up there for the best.

Is it worth the price? Probably not, but this is a mindblowing brew if you can take the lack of carbonation. Maybe it was the Innis & Gunn rum cask last night that I had that is making this taste marvelous, or the Abyss I had before it, though I cleared my palate the best I could.

Appearance – A dark red-amber color, with a few bubbles that appear for a few seconds then disappear. No carbonation visible.

Smell – Cider, vinegar, oak, and a hint of rum and cherries.

Taste – A sour, cidery flavor with a fair amount of rum and alcohol present.

Mouthfeel – Flat. Very flat. Too flat . Not a hint of carbonation. The 11% abv is apparent, and not hidden at all.

Drinkability – I’ve had decent beers this flat. However, it doesn't seem to work for this one. It feels like a soda that's been left out a few days.

There's some decent flavors here, but the sour cideriness takes away from that. Not worth the $23.99 I paid. I tried another bottle to ensure my review was fair, but it tasted the same the 2nd time as well. However, I really like their Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien Bière de Garde (non-Grand-Cru).

Thanks to Smoked for sharing this with me. Poured into a cervoise, this brew appears copper in color. When held to the light, it looks more of a clear ruby through the body with orange through the edges. A rough pour yields a few large bubbles that fade quickly. Som faint spotty lace sticks to the glass.

The smell of this brew is sour with cherry quality. Oak is present imparting a bit of caramel sweetness and lots of vanilla. As the brew warms up, more cherry comes out mixed with solvent, burning alcohol that makes the nose change to something that is quite medicinal smelling.

The taste is fusel with alcohol with a very bold display of solvent character. A bit of aceytone comes out tasting of nail polish remover. Herbal at times with a very warming kick. Cherry makes itself known at times with some earthy notes before the onset of more burning alcohol. As the brew comes up to temperature it gets to be a chore to finish.

This is a medium bodied brew with almost no carbonation. The 11% abv is not hidden in this offering at all. The lack of carbonation really doesn't help any. There is an unrecognizable spirited accent to the booze quality of this brew making it solvent. It isn't "bad" but hardly compares to some other offerings I've had from this brewery. More carbonation would have gone a long way perhaps some aging and colder serving temperature would make this experience more enjoyable. Regardless, I am thankful for the opportunity to try it. Thanks again Dan.

A: No “hiss” or “pop” when I cracked the cap off. Color is dark orange/brown almost like maple syrup. There was also quite a bit of visible sediment in the bottle during the pour. No lacing 3

S: Smell is slightly sour, tart brown sugar like sweetness and a bit of funk with some wooded musk. 3

T&M: This is almost like drinking wine. It’s flat and boozy. The sourness is mostly out weighed by the high amount of malt and sugar. What little tartness there is, is of a sweet fermented fruit variety. Unfortunately, this is just not that good. Perhaps some age would help it but I doubt it. The lack of carbonation is also not helping it. 2.5 / 2.0

O: No carbonation, average aroma, appearance is OK and the taste is just too sweet for what it’s trying to do. It’s also pretty high in ABV so it drinks more like a flat barleywine or straight up wine. Would not drink again. It’s not terrible, just not for me. 2.5

I got to try this courtesy of normyk (thanks Rob!), side-by-side with 2006 & 2009 un-treated versions of Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien (those courtesy of both Rob and Brad).

This poured nearly still, dark brown color with no head. There's a lot going on in the aroma, but unfortunately for me the rum and barrel seem to take away the funk. Boozy smelling, with some plums/raisins and oak.

The taste is again nice but nevertheless a let-down, no funk left in this beer. Just rum, barrel, dark fruits, maybe some cough syrup too. Pretty flat too, I guess that's somewhat appropriate for the style?

The final verdict from the vertical: The 2006 was sublime, my favorite by a mile. Next was the 2009 which was very good but definitely a level beneath the 2006, and finally this Rhum version was clearly the bottom tier. Not horrible, just not worth the very high coin it demands in stores.

Pours a clear reddish orange. No real head to speak. Smells tart and sour. Maybe a touch of oak. Tastes astringent and weird off flavours. Harsh. Bitter, overall pretty rough compared to the base beer. The moth feel is thick but no real carbonation. Not nearly as enjoyable as other brews

Overall its a good beer, its fairly old and lacking carbonation, but great tart fruits and nice darker malts, despite that I'm not a huge rum fan it has some nice buttery rum and barrel flavors. Not sure on the date but it was a fairly old dusty bottle.

The beer looks decent enough in the glass. It's nearly flat and a bit murky, as the brownish plum liquid swirls around the glass I'm reminded of prune juice. No worries, a quick vigorous swirl reawakens a few bubbles and makes this look good enough to drink.

The smell is complex and very pleasant, but lacks the expression I would like to see. Some barrel notes, mainly booze and oak, combine with a lacto sharpness, herbs and dark fruit. I get notes of fig, tart apple skin, cherry and some rum. Not the best beer ever but certainly not the worst.

The taste is very nice, but still falls short of the best examples of either sour beers or Bière de Garde that I've had. There's a good enough base beer here, with trademark herbs, oak and non-acetic sour lacto coming through. Some cherry and dark fruit fade into oak, a touch of vanilla, rum and some heat. The beer is sophisticated and very interesting, but the treatment doesn't showcase either the beer or the rum well enough for me.

The medium bodied beer has mild carbonation that makes it a bit lifeless. Overall, I liked the flavors here but think there are better beers for $20.

This beer pours full bodied and very cloudy deep apricot. It poured smoothly without any bubbles or any head to speak of. The aromas are of sweet and sour dark fruits, light raisin, dehydrated apricots, perhaps light apple/Calvados, with a sour light alcohol finish. The flavors consist of funky apricots, light dark fruits, a moderate amount of alcohol, lightly sour apples, perhaps some light candied sugar. I don't actually get any rum barrel at all, which is odd. It was quite difficult to pick out the nuances of the flavors presented. It just didn't feature defined balance. There also isn't much of an aftertaste. In the middle of drinking this, we tried rum from Belize and it had the same type of aftertaste, mild vanilla and candied sugar. So that kind of put it in perspective. It has a very watery mouthfeel. Despite the thick looking pour it drinks very watery and is too easy to drink, and not in a good way. Overall this is an interesting brew but not close to being worth the $23.99 per 375ml bottle.